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into his flesh.
    The zombie growled, angry and agitated, charging forward. Liam’s head was pounding, vertigo tilting the world on end. Yet, somehow Liam was able to barely dodge the giant with its slashed gut and oozing insides hanging from its torn coveralls. Zombie Marcus managed to stay on his feet before spinning around and preparing to launch himself at Liam.
    Ana screamed again, shrill as her grip on Zombie Keb’s neck went slack and the monster’s teeth opened and closed, trying to bite her arms.
    Liam thought of Jonah’s battle with the zombie at the end of the last Darwins, and how he’d managed to grab an orb and bash the undead fucker over the head. But the orbs surrounding their scuffle were hovering above, away from the chaos, and Liam doubted Ana could manage Jonah’s nearly impossible feat even if they weren’t.
    Liam ran at Zombie Marcus, ready to slice his head off, but snagged his foot on a snow-covered something, slipped, and went flying forward, the sword launching from his fingers.
    Liam didn’t have time to stand up. He could feel and hear the beast coming at him. Liam threw himself forward, on clawed hands and bruised knees, scrambling for the weapon.
    Fingers just inches from the hilt, Liam was suddenly grabbed tight around his right ankle and yanked back.
    Liam screamed, twisting around to find Zombie Marcus holding tight to his ankle, pulling him back with just one hand. Even brain dead, the zombie could see the clear threat of Liam reaching the weapon.
    Liam twisted and turned, trying to wrangle free from the giant’s grip, but its hand was too tight, now squeezing Liam’s ankle so hard it felt as if would rip off.
    Liam grabbed a massive handful of snow, squeezed it into a ball in his palm, then hurled the snowball into its face. Zombie Marcus let go of Liam to swipe at his eyes. Liam’s foot dropped and he seized the moment to slip away, turning to dive for the sword.
    Liam dived for the sword but was grabbed by the feet again.
    “Shit!” Liam screamed.
    Zombie Marcus pulled harder this time, dragging Liam even farther from the sword. As his body was dragged back in the snow, Liam tried, but failed, to get a grip of anything on the ground to hold onto. He looked up just in time to see Ana losing her battle and Zombie Keb bearing down, just inches from her face.
    Liam screamed, kicking his feet, trying desperately to break free as Zombie Marcus kept dragging him away to do God knows what to him.
    Suddenly someone raced past him — a tiny red-haired girl, holding a pistol and heading for Ana.
    “Ana!” Liam screamed, alerting her to the contestant trying to capitalize on their weakened positions by picking them off. While Ana hadn’t noticed the girl, Zombie Marcus had , and turned from Liam and gave chase.
    The red-haired girl stopped, standing two feet from Ana, then raised the gun and fired, shooting Zombie Keb from behind, blowing a chunk of its skull away. Ana screamed and shoved the zombie’s body off of her.
    Before Liam could determine whether the girl was helping or about to shoot Ana, Zombie Marcus was nearly on top of her, swiping his massive arm at her tiny head.
    She was small and agile enough to duck beneath the giant zombie’s swing. She dodged his fist, fell to the ground, and rolled through the snow. A yard from the zombie, the tiny thing sprang to her feet, fired once, twice, then a third time, until her gun started clicking empty.
    Zombie Marcus made it one more step before he paused, now inches away from the girl, his momentum as frozen as the air.
    The monster swayed, then fell to his knees, stunned, despite a shot to his face that had left the lower right side of his jaw hanging from its fleshy hinge. The undead wasn’t down, even if broken. Ana seized the moment as the girl fell a step back, grabbing the sword and swinging it in a wide circle, severing the zombie’s head from his massive body.
    Liam turned to the girl. Ana followed his lead.
    The girl took a step back, followed by another three as she backed her way toward the tree line — terrified. She threw her gun to the ground, pulled a knife from a sheath at her waist, then held it out, eyes wide and darting back and forth between Liam and Ana.
    “It’s OK,” Ana said, kneeling to the ground and laying her sword in the snow. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
    The girl stared at Ana, then Liam. He was still catching his breath, nervous that she would do something stupid, like trying